


Incomplete

by xxsatinangelxx



Category: The Fosters (TV 2013)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2016-11-15
Packaged: 2018-08-31 03:14:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8561440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxsatinangelxx/pseuds/xxsatinangelxx
Summary: This is how I see life going for Callie after Brandon moved out to move in with his girlfriend and her son. This was before I saw the most up to date episodes, so please take this as an AU of sorts. This is my interpretation of what I see within the show, please no harsh comments





	

There Callie sat on her Foster brothers bed, his usual cassette tape pillow cases lying there, perfectly still and yet the rest of the world seemed perfectly unaware of how heartbreaking those pillow cases were to Callie. 

She leaned forward gently and for one shining moment she flashed back to almost 6 months ago when she told him she loved him and he said it back. She remembered how happy just being in his arms made her feel, like nothing or no one could ever hurt her again. Not even Stef and Lena’s rejection from their family. 

Now Brandon wasn’t even living at home, moved in with his new girlfriend and her son, paying for her legal fees and from what Callie could see, he was happy. He was in love…but not with her and somehow she wasn’t so much heartbroken as numb to everything. 

Mariana had told her last week she accidentally broke her favourite sweatshirt, she had shrugged it off, saying it was just clothes. She’d been noticing little changes in herself as well, she didn’t bother smiling much anymore, she didn’t even bother picking up her guitar. 

It was like her life and her hobbies had no meaning to her anyone, partly because they reminded her of something she can never have but also because her life, at least in her heart had no purpose without Brandon being there to hold her when things got tough. 

“Callie?” Stef called, a forwardness to her tone that told Callie she was aware of what Callie had been doing in Brandon’s room. 

“Sorry” Callie stood up and faked the best smile she could. “I’ll leave” Callie went to walk past Stef but she grabbed her daughters arm.

“Callie, Sweetheart…are you alright? You’ve been distant. Quiet even. AJ says you haven’t seen him in about a week” 

“We broke up” Callie answered honestly, a dead tone to her voice. The tone seemed to worry Stef more than the words. 

“I’m sorry to hear that, is it something to do with what happened between you and Brandon?” Callie met Stef’s eye and for one glimmer moment she was angry. Livid even. How dare her mother assume her relationship with Brandon was distasteful, repulsive even and then when the realisation hit her that there was nothing she or anyone would ever be able to do to change her mind, her hopelessness set back in like a tide claiming a shore. 

“No. I never lied to him about that. He merely realised I wasn’t worth his time” Again the same dead tone in her voice. 

“Your worth all his time Callie” Callie scoffed, so close to spilling what was on the tip of her tongue, but bit it down instead. What was the point? 

“If you don’t mind I’d rather not talk about this anymore” She moved away from her Mom as quietly as she could, knowing full well Stef was watching her closely as she moved back into her room.

===================================

Callie was in the middle of doing her homework when Lena knocked on her bedroom door, with Mariana out with Max there was little room for Callie to deny her Mama a private conversation, which was obviously what she wanted. 

“Mind if I come him?” Callie merely shrugged, which Mama took as an invitation to sit on the other side of Callie’s laptop and paperwork. Callie continued to type, waiting for her Mama to start the conversation. 

“Mom tells me you think AJ doesn’t think you’re worth his time” Callie continued to type, not losing her train of thought at all while her Mama spoke to her. She was hearing every word but when you’re as hopeless as Callie feels, even a peep talk or something of that sort, does nothing but waste your time, despite that however Callie had to admit she was curious what her Mama would try to say to convince her of her own self-worth while denying her the one thing that truly makes her happy. 

“What makes you think that’s true?” Callie glances up at her Mama, was she serious? Did she seriously not see how utterly lacking of life Callie was? 

“Well after everything that has happened recently… I can hardly blame him from wanting to put as much distance between himself and me” 

The words spoke as she continued to type, her latest homework almost complete. 

“Did you have a fight?” Lena’s question was obvious.   
“No” 

“Did he hurt you?”   
“No”

“Did you hurt him?”   
“No” 

“Then what?”  
“Ask him… or better yet just accept it and move on. That’s what I’ve done” Lena was obviously getting frustrated. She sucked in a deep breath and offer her goodnight, Callie offered the same one back.

===================================

As the days Brandon didn’t live at home increased, everyone tried to bring Callie out her slump. Jude offered to let her teach him how to play guitar which ended with Jude screaming at her to snap out of her selfish mood, Jesus’ even picked her up and twirled her around to try and make her laugh which ended in a trip to the ER and 3 stitches. Mariana gave her a makeover, ever since said make over Mariana had been painfully quiet around her sister. Even her Grandparents tried. Speaking to her as an adult and as a child, neither had any effect.

“Hey” Brandon called gently at her from where she sat at the kitchen table. Everyone else was supposedly asleep and Callie had no desire to go to sleep just yet. She was surprised to see him, he wasn’t due a visit home till next week. 

“Hi” She offered back, a smile playing at her lips. 

“You’re smiling” Brandon offered. Confused. From his expression Callie figured out the reason for his visit. 

“You’re here to…cheer me up. Everyone else has tried and now it’s your turn” Brandon took a step towards the fridge pulling out a bowl of strawberries and then poured himself a glass of milk to match Callie’s. 

“I do know you pretty well” He finally added as he set himself in the seat beside her. Their Momma’s were listening to every word, just beyond their view. 

“Some would say you know me better than even I know myself” Brandon smiled at her gently. 

“The same could be said about me with you” Callie’s head fell into her hands and the first tear fell, the first tear she swore to herself she’d never cry because if she did, she would never stop. It was like seeing Brandon again, so close, so tangible that broke down the walls she’d been building carefully for weeks. 

“Damn it Brandon. How do you do that? How do you look at me and cut through every defence I put up?” Brandon almost chuckled. 

“Because…” 

“Because?” She repeated when he didn’t continue. Her eyes searching for his despite her tears, when they found her he knew what he had to say. 

“Because I’ve seen you at your worst. I’ve seen you so scared to be touched you flinch when someone hands you something. I’ve seen you so angry you’ve thrown something across the room, I’ve seen you so heartbroken you’ve sobbed in my arms for hours. I suppose when you’ve seen someone that defenceless… No wall seems necessary” 

Callie took in a couple deep breathes trying to calm her heartbeat. 

“And yet a defence seems painfully necessary considering our situation” Brandon knew exactly what she meant and nodded. 

“Why do you think I’ve keep my distance or only come up when you’re not here or too busy to speak more than simple pleasantries to me… My heart breaks into a million pieces every time I step into this house and have to remember the thousands of things I love about you” He took a sip of his milk trying to wash away the lump in his throat at the words.

Stef and Lena had been listening with pained ears. Stef was ready to burst in but Lena whispered to her that if they were ever going to trust their children again, they had to let them figure it out and that includes letting them talk it out…alone. 

“Do you know what makes me laugh? Stef, a couple weeks ago asked me why AJ and I broke up. As if the notion of you and I being romantically involved is repulsive. I wanted so badly to scream in her face, demand an explanation as to why she could seem so concerned for my well being and yet deny me the one thing that truly makes me happy” Brandon listened, like he always did, not judging her at all. 

“So why didn’t you?” Callie met his eye. 

“We don’t always get to have our one true love…do we?” Brandon almost chuckled at those words. 

“Now you’re quoting me to me…That’s low Callie, Really low” A cheek to his voice, she smiled gently.

“and what about Mamma? I’m sure she must have tried to give you one of her special talks?” Callie nodded, picking up a strawberry twisting it between her fingers gently. 

“Oh yeah she certainly tried to get me to open up about my feelings…but unless she wanted to hear how utterly hopeless I feel all the goddamned time, I just kept my mouth shut”

“You’re…depressed” It wasn’t a question. 

“You know I thought we might be able to make it work for a while while Mom and Momma didn’t know. I deluded myself that we could still make it work, I could be part of this family and be with you at the same time but then we decided our relationship was too risky and I agreed, knowing what our family needed us to be, with Stef being ill and Lena still dealing with losing the baby, we had our family to look after”

“So what changed?” Stef couldn’t help but be surprised at how Brandon was taking the question right out of her mouth as she continued to listen to this heart breaking conversation between her eldest children. 

“After I told them what happened between us, I realised I was still in love with you, but I was with AJ and you were with Cass and life seemed to be okay for you, for everyone else, so I kept my mouth shut and then you moved out and it was like a gaping hole inside me, as if my heart had been ripped from my chest, seemed to remove what little hope I had left about us getting back together”

Brandon blinked at Callie, trying to comprehend what she was saying. 

“And I know how selfish it is for me to want you back after you’ve made a new life for yourself, after you’re integrated yourself into her custody battle with her ex-husband. Not after you became a father figure to her son. The more I denied myself what I wanted the more depressed I became, the more I felt guilty for feeling what I felt the more depressed I became. Eventually…”

“Eventually” Brandon whispered, finishing her sentence for her “Eventually feeling numb was the only way to get through the day” Callie nodded with a heavy heart. He always did know what she was feeling, what she was thinking. 

“Yes” She offered simply and reality came crashing down to deal a mighty blow to the young couple sitting at the table. 

“But…” She spoke with a crack to her voice “I’ll be alright. I’ll get through the school year, move as far away from my heartbreak as I can and…and…well I’ll try and find something worth living for” 

“Oh Callie” Brandon offered, his tone cutting through her like they always did. 

“I don’t know whether to be angry at myself that I’ve put you through this or angry at you that you allowed me to mean this much to you, that's if I can even fathom how much I do mean to you that is” 

“You were the reason I stopped running. You were the reason I made friends, you were the reason I smiled again, you were the reason I was able to fall in love and be intimate again. Without you Brandon, I honestly don’t know who I am”

He reached over and gripped her hand, his own tears falling. 

“I love you” She sobbed pulling his hand to her lips to kiss, her tears falling freely on their connected hands. Brandon blinked his own tears out of his eyes, trying to stop more from falling. The more he tried, the more that fell. 

“I love you too” He offered as if that was some comfort to what she was feeling. 

“You do?” Callie asked, her confusion easing her sob for a few moments. 

“Of course I do Callie. You’re the best thing that ever happens to me. You make me laugh, you make me…the best version of me. When I’m with you it’s like I’m my most vulnerable and my strongest all at once. It’s like…You’re part of me” Brandon almost laughed as he spoke those words. 

“What’s so funny?” Callie asked, letting herself enjoy their hand being connected. 

“You feeling so depressed, it's not till you said it I realised just how down I've been too. Cas had told me once she felt like I was everything she would ever want and need and to you know what I thought?”

“What?” She asked, just glad to feel something again. 

“I thought ‘how can she say that…she’s not Callie’” To see the mild surprise on Callie’s face was worth it to him.

“Of course at the time I agree with her. When she first told me she loved me I…Well I said ‘you too’ because in that instance I wasn’t with her in our home saying I love you, I was back to that first moment we said I love you. The only way I get to smile anymore Is by living those memories over and over and over again”

“You’re depressed too” Brandon nodded, meeting her eye with a heavy heart.

“I’m just better at hiding it” Neither of them could deny that.

“If I can see it—“ 

“Well yes” Brandon offered “But you see through me as if I were nothing but glass” Callie let out a heavy sigh. 

“When did we get so messed up Brandon?” Wiping her eyes for the 10th time in as many minutes. 

“I think about the moment I sat down at the dinner table and asked ‘who’s this?’” Callie smiled at the memory. 

“I thought you were some stuck rich kid” A humour to her tone  
“And I thought you were a lost cause” A smile on his face.

“Guess we were both wrong” Callie offered with a humour to her tone.   
“Seems so. Listen I’ve got to go. They’re expecting me home but promise me you’ll call if it gets too much? I don’t ever want you thinking your life don’t mean anything Callie” He stood up, pulling his hand away as he moved towards the door, which she followed him and she realised in that moment she'd follow Brandon just about anywhere. 

“It doesn’t Matter. I don’t ma—“ 

“DON’T YOU DARE” Brandon let out a breath as Callie flinched as he shouted. Not knowing he’d made both is mother’s flinch too.

“Don’t you Dare think you don’t matter Callie. I may not be able to show it but you still hold my heart in here” Pointing to her chest, as she got close enough. “Take good care of it?"  
"Only if you promise to take care of mine" They shook hands in agreement.

“I want so much to kiss you right now” She whispered as he opened the door to leave. Brandon leaned down and kissed her cheek and then pulled her into a hug. 

“I can settle for a hug” He whispered back, so they stood there silently for longer than was ever considered socially acceptable to hug. When He finally pulled away he leaned in close again and kissed her forehead. 

“I’ll call you later okay?” 

“Okay” Brandon moved to leave, but Callie caught his arm. 

“Thank you” He smiled at her words. 

“It’s what brothers are for right?” With those words he left and somehow those words set her reality crashing down on her again. She moved back to the table, the only evidence that Brandon was ever there was the strawberries on the table and the empty glass of milk. 

Callie moved to clean up when she found a slip of paper under the glass. She opened it and read it out loud in full hearing range of her mothers.

“I miss you a little, I guess you could say, A little too much, a little too often and a little more each day’ Don’t forget to smile Callie, it’s the thing I love most about you. Brandon”

Callie smiled, wiping a tear and putting the note in her pocket and as she turned off the light to head back upstairs she quoted something to herself, which her mothers also heard. 

“Mostly it is loss that teaches us the worth of things and Brandon…” She whispered to herself as she switched off the light “You are worth everything to me” With that she went back upstairs, every step made her feel more and more numb until she was back to being the Callie her family had seen since before Brandon came to see her.

=======================================

When Lena and Stef stepped out of the shadows, in the now dark kitchen. They both just stood there, starring at the walls and each other in dumbstruck shock as to what they had just witnessed.

“I had never realised how…” She stopped short, realising she did know how much they loved each other, just not truly understanding until this moment. Stef turned to her wife. 

“What do we do?” 

“We find a way around it so our babies can be happy. Isn’t that what we want for them?” 

“Of course we do Lena. I just…can’t believe we never saw this side to them” 

“We didn’t exactly try Stef”

“Yes well given the situation—“ 

“Forget the situation, did you see what Brandon managed to do in two seconds, what we’ve been trying to do for weeks? He brought her out of her show. Made her feel something for the first time in ages, it was like having the old Callie back” That was all Lena wanted, was her go happy daughter with a quip at her tongue and bright smile to show.

“Yeah so?” Stef was being defensive because she didn’t want to admit the truth, Lena knew that too. 

“So…we either let our own children walk around barely alive or we find a way to get through this situation” 

“What will people think?” Stef asked and Lena almost laughed at her wife, as she grab a glass of water. 

“People still think our relationship, let alone our marriage is wrong. Do we care what they think?” 

“No, of course not” 

“So are we going to let fear of other people’s opinions stop us from making our children happy?”

“Of course not” Stef smiled at Lena, somehow Lena had made something that still seems so wrong in her eyes sound not so bad. 

“Only you could turn that around so quickly babe” Lena smiled, kissing her wives cheek as she headed for the stairs. 

“It’s practice, I promise” 

There was no quick fix to this situation and there was still a whole lot more to consider than just what made Brandon and Callie happy but the fact they were both at least willing to try made Callie’s heart burst with excitement as she turned off her lamp, to appear to be trying to sleep but in reality only having just got in her room after ease dropping on their conversation.

She had known her mothers would be listening, she knew them better than they thought she did. Her phone buzzed by her side and she almost laugh allowed at Brandon’s text 

“So just how much of Mom’s conversation did you hear before you were force to hide?” 

As Callie typed a response, she hadn’t realised the heartache that had been burying her in depression from weeks lifted and for the first time in a while, her heart started truly beating again, as if on its way to being complete. Again. 

THE END


End file.
